Hat.



L. STEVENS.

HAT. APPLICATION FILED APR.14, 1910.. 1,024,750. Patented Apr. 30, 1912.

2 glgventor by /f LESLIE STEVENS, 0F GLEN RIDGE, NEW JERSEY.

HAT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 30, 1912.

Original application filed June 3, 1909, Serial No. 499,904. Divided and this application filed April 14,

1910. Serial No. 555,415.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LEsLIE S'rnvnxs, a citizen of the United States, residing at Glen Ridge, county of Essex, and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Hats, fully described and represented in the following specification and the accompanying drawings, forming a part of the same.

This invention relates to one-piece hats made of felt or other suitable stretchable and moldable material and of the class or general shape known as extension crown hats, that is, hats having the head opening smaller than the lower part of the crown. Such smaller head opening in one-piece hats is formed by an annular fold of the felt extending inwardly from the lower extremity of the crown and from the brim, and such hats have been made prior to the present invention with the crown base or upper layer of such fold, extending from the crown proper to the head band or inner angle of the fold, approximately fiat, lying in the plane of the lower extremity of the sides of the crown.

The present invention provides a onepiece extension crown hat having an inset head band and a crown base which slants upwardly from the lower extremity of the crown to the head band. The desirability of having the head band of extension crown hats set up into the crown has long been recognized, and the demand for hats with such an inset head band has been met prior to this invention by making the crown and brim of the hat of separate pieces, or by providing a separate head piece secured in side the crown and the inner portion of which formed the head band. One-piece'extension crown hats with inset head bands have not, however, been made prior to the present invention.

My improved one-piece extension crown hat may be made by following the method described and claimed in my original application, Serial No. 499,904, of which this application is a division. In accordance with such method, the hat is first shaped with an outstanding head band and a crown base slanting downwardly from the crown to the head band, and the head band and crown base are then forced inward toward the top of the crown of the hat so as to reverse the slant of the crown base and set the head band in the desired position above the plane of the bottom or lower extremity of the crown. The hat is thus first formed in a shape which is less, rather than more diflicult to produce than the one-piece extension crown hats having a flat crown base as heretofore made, and then by the simple operation of reversing the slant of the crown base a hat is produced which is in itself new and which so far as I know cannot be made by the methods known and used prior the invention of my said method.

The head band may be of any desired width, or may be formed merely by a sharp bend of the felt at the junction of the inner extremities of the crown base and brim. If it is of a width considerably less than the distance between the planes of the upper and lower extremities or edges of the slanting crown base, then before the head band and crown base are set into the crown, the br m or the inner portion thereof should preferably be suitably shaped to roll or flare downwardly so as not to interfere with the insetting of the head band and crown base. The amount of inclination or slant to be given to the inner portion of the brim will depend upon the slant and width of the crown base and the width of the head band. It should preferably be such that the distance between the plane passing through the portion of the brim which is to be adjacent to the lower extremity of the crown in the completed hat and the plane of the inner or lower extremity of the downwardly slanting crown base will be slightly less than the distance between. the plane of the lower extremity of the crown base and the plane of the line of junction between the upper extremity of the crown base and the lower extremity of the sides of the crown. With these parts so shaped and proportioned, when the head band is forced up into the crown, the crown base, being simply reversed so as to slant upwardly instead of downwardly, will tend to hold the head band and brim in position with the head band properly inset and the brim close against the lower extremity of the crown. The crown of the hat may be of any desired shape, size and proportions, and may have a head opening of any desired size and shape, and the brim of the finished hat may be flat or may have any desired up or down roll or straight flare.

In addition to the obvious advantages in economy of manufacture and betterment of product of making in one piece an extension crown hat with an inset head band, instead of resorting to the expedient of the twopiece hat, hats made in accordance with the present invention possess other special advantages which will be hereinafter referred to.

In the drawings :-Figures 1, 3, 5 and 7 show in diagrannnatic sectional view several different hats embodying the invention, Figs. 2, fl, 6 and 8 show the same hats in shapes or forms through which they pass in the process of making and to which forms they may be drawn out or extended if it is desired to increase the height of their crowns.

Referring first to Figs. 1 and 2, Fig. 1 shows a one-piece extension crown hat shaped in accordance with the invention, having a dome shaped crown a, and a downwardly rolled brim a, and having a narrow inset head band a formed by the sharp bend of the felt between the inner portion of the brim and an upwardly slanting crown base a In making such a hat in accordance with the method contained in my said original application No. 199,9035 the hat is first shaped to the form shown in Fig. 2, the brim being preferably of the same shape as shown in Fig. 1, and the crown. being of the same shape as shown in Fig. 1 except that the crown base slants downwardly from the crown to the then outstanding head band (2 After the hat is shaped as shown in Fig. 2, the head band ant. downwardly slanting crown base are forced upward toward the top of the crown and into the crown, thereby reversing the slant of the crown base and insctting the head band and bringing the crown and brim to the relative positions shown in 1.

In order to secure the best results, it is desirable that the slant or inclination of the crown base of the hat as shaped with an outstanding head band, and the inclination or slant of the inner portion of the brim, shall. be relatively such that the distance between. the plane of the outer and inner edges respectively of the crown. base shall be somewhat greater than the distance between the plane of the inner edge of the crown base and a plane passing through that por tion of the brim which will lie adjacent to the outer edge of the crown base in the finished hat. With these parts so inclined, while the inclination of the brim will be sutiicient to permit a reversal of the slant of the crown base before the brim comes against the lower extremity of the crown or the outer portion of the crown base, yet the crown base will be held in a position in which it will be under some tension to move farther upward or inward, and will therefore tend to hold the crown and brim closely together.

After the hat has been set to the shape shown in Fig. 1, it may obviously be easily and quickly changed to a hat having a higher crown by simply pulling the brim and crown away from each other to restore the hat to the shape shown in Fig. 2 having an outstanding head band and a downwardly slanting crown base.

F ig. 3 shows a hat similar in shape to that shown in Fig. 1., except that it has a flat brim as shown in full lines, or it might have its brim upwardly or downwardly flared as indicated by dotted lines. Where the brim is flat or given an upward flare or slight downward flare as indicated there is an annular bend on the line at between the main portion of the brim and the inner portion which lies adjacent to the crown base, and the line of such bend should preferably, as shown, lie just inside the lower edge of the side wall of the crown so as to be hidden by the crown when the hat has been set to the form shown in Fig. 3. Fig. 4 shows the hat of Fig. 3 but with its head band outstanding in the position which it takes during the making of the hat and to which it may be drawn out for the purpose of increasing the height of the crown.

It will be noticed that in the hats shown in both. Figs. 1 and 3 the inner portion of the brim, which forms the under layer of the inwardly extending fold the inner bend or angle of which forms what has been termed the head band, lies close against the "crown base or upper layer of such fold,

slanting inwardly and upwardly from a point near the lower extremity of the crown to the head band. There is thus provided an annular inclined or concave rest or head piece which permits the hat to set low on the head of the wearer and provides a support for the hat which enables it to be secured firmly in place with a minimum of discomfort to the wearer.

A. hat having a wide inset head band and having the inner portion of the brim left fiat is shown in Fig. 5; and Fig. 7 shows a hat with a head band of a width intermediate between the narrow head band of Figs. 1 and 3 and the wide band of Fig. 5, the inner portion of the brim slanting inwardly and upwardly but not to the same extent as in Fig. 3. Figs. 6 and 8 show the hats of Figs. 5 and 7 but as shaped before the reversal of the crown base or as extended to provide a hat with an outstanding head band and a higher crown.

hat is claimed is 1. A one-piece extension-crown hat having a crown base extending inwardly and slanting upwardly and away from the side of the crown, and an inset head band con necting the crown base with the brim and located a substantial distance from the side of the crown with its upper extremity at a substantial distance from the plane of the base of the crown.

2. A one-piece extension-crown hat hav-' ing a crown base extending inwardly and slanting upwardly and away from the side of the crown, and an inset head band connecting the crown base with the brim and located a substantial distance from the side of the crown, and having the inner portion of the brim slanting upwardly beneath the crown base.

3. A one-piece extension-crown hat having a crown base extending inwardly and slanting upwardly and away from the side of the crown, and a head band connecting the crown base with the brim at a substantial distance from the side of the crown, said crown base and head band being movable to lie inside or outside the lower extremity of the crown to fprm a hat with an inset or outstanding head band.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

LESLIE STEVENS. Witnesses:

LAURA E. MUTH, A. L. KENT.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

